Green House Effect on Biodiversity

There is growing scientific consensus that an average global warming of 2°C above the pre-industrial level, which is around 450 ppm atmospheric carbon dioxide equivalent (IPCC 4th Assessment Working Group I), would constitute a dangerous level of climate change with serious implications for the achievement of Millennium Development Goals, the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and other Rio Conventions.

Global greenhouse gas emissions are on an accelerating trend and if left unchecked, could lead to a 6.4°C (11.5° F) temperature increase by the end of the century, exceeding conservative estimates (The Copenhagen Diagnosis: Climate Science Report).

It is now widely recognized that climate change and biodiversity are interconnected, not only through the effects of climate change on biodiversity, but also through changes in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning that affect climate change. The carbon cycle and the water cycle, arguably the two most important large scale processes for life on Earth, both depend on biodiversity at genetic, species and ecosystem levels.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment identified climate change as a dominant driver of future biodiversity loss and indicated that it would adversely affect key development challenges, including the provision of clean water, energy services, & food; maintenance of a healthy environment; and conservation of ecological systems, their biodiversity, and associated ecosystem goods and services (Ecosystems & Human Well-being : Policy Responses).